“Whatever Turkey wants, Turkey gets, eh, General?” Dr. Scheer said. “Just like ol’ Reagan and his lapdog Bush.”
“We’re doing it because Turkey is important to the West and important to NATO, and because they’re truly being threatened by Russia,” the General said. “I think relations with them is worth a few squadrons and a few ships.”
The President hesitated for a moment longer, then held up his hands as if in surrender and said, “Well, Don, I think we’re going to bust the bank on this one, but I tend to agree with the General, at least on the short term. Okay, General, what do you recommend?”
Freeman couldn’t believe it. The draft-dodger was coming around. “In accordance with your standing rules regarding limitations on overseas deployments and the use of take-along equipment versus using or creating repositioned stores,” Freeman said, “I recommend deploying the 394th Air Battle Wing from New York, flying RF-111G Vampire reconnaissance fighters, KC-135 tankers, and a few F-16 fighters; also three Perry-class frigates from the Sixth Fleet, the Curts, McClusky, and Davis. These frigates are mostly antisubmarine-warfare vessels, but they have a powerful antiship and even an antiaircraft weapons fit.”
“What about these F-111s? Aren’t they offensive aircraft?”
“They have an offensive capability,” Freeman admitted, “but their primary role is reconnaissance and SEAD — that’s Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses, what they call ‘Wild Weasel’ or ‘Iron Hand.’ They go after missile sites, radar sites, that sort of thing. The Turks like the F-111, and we’ve based F-111s in Turkey for almost ten years. The 394th Air Battle Wing has eighteen RF-111Gs, twelve KC-135 tankers, and twenty F-16 fighters. NATO will send one of their E-3C radar planes, and we can send a Special Task Force from the Army’s Seventh Air Defense Artillery Battalion with six Patriot missile batteries — that’s twenty-four launchers, four missiles per launcher, no reloads. They’d be operated by U.S. Army personnel only, because the Congressional ban on exporting Patriot missile technology to Turkey is still in effect.”
“As well it should be, after we discovered Turkey trying to steal Patriot technology last year,” Secretary of Defense Grimm added indignantly.
The President looked surprised. He rolled the cigar between his left index finger and thumb. “That’s all the Turks want? From what you said, it sounded like they wanted a couple aircraft carriers, maybe a B-52 wing.”
“They’d like an entire surface-action group and all our F-117 stealth fighters, sir,” Freeman admitted. “We can’t, and shouldn’t, give them everything they want. The Turks like haggling over levels of assistance — they’ll think they’re being set up if we send too much. This deal won’t totally please them — especially when they find out about the Seventh Air Defense Battalion detachment and the 394th Wing.”
“What about them?” the President asked.
“Both units are about one-quarter women,” Freemen replied. “Almost half the aerial refueling tanker crewmembers are women; most of the Patriot missile system instructors are women; even some of the RF-111G pilots are women. The Turks don’t approve of women as soldiers.”
“Screw ’em,” the President said. “They ask for help, they’re getting help. It’s about time we show the world that women can fight just as well as men.”
“There may be cultural problems in sending these forces to Turkey, sir,” Secretary of Defense Scheer offered. “Putting women in uniform and sending them to Turkey might be considered an insult to Turkey, as if we don’t respect them enough, or the Turks might think the women are criminals or head cases. As absurd as it sounds, that’s how they think. They may refuse to work with or even acknowledge our women officers. The women we send to Incirlik Air Base in central Turkey have a lot of difficulties when they go off-base or have to deal with Turkish men.”
“We’ll deal with that problem when it happens,” the President said dismissively. “It’s about time we start showing the world what American female soldiers can do. Maybe we’ll help Turkey join the twentieth century. Don, who’s gonna be in charge of this Turkey operation, and what’re we gonna call it?”
“Admiral John Carruth will be the theater commander, sir,” Sec-Def Scheer replied. “I’ll get together with him and prepare a briefing for you as soon as possible.”
“Good. John’s a good man. Annapolis wild boy, but a few tours in Washington softened him up for me,” the President said. Freeman would have gone a bit further: Carruth, one of General Norman Schwarzkopf’s fleet commanders during the Persian Gulf War, had a reputation as a Washington animal with definite political aspirations, spending more time in Washington — not just at the Pentagon, but on Capitol Hill and the White House — than at his headquarters in Florida or at any of his installations. With the increasing importance of the Navy in U.S. Central Command operations, it was logical that a Navy admiral take command of the previously Army and Marine heavy-command, but with Carruth it was a political stepping-stone given to him by his buddy, the southern President. This operation might take on a distinct naval flavor before too long.
“Yes, sir,” Lifter agreed. “As for a name, General Freeman has the standard computer-generated package name, but we should pick a better one for the press. I suggested Operation Peaceful Hands. Simple, nonaggressive, interdenominational.”
“I like it,” the President said, truly pleased for the first time during the entire meeting. Of course Freeman hated it, but he had no plan to try to change it. Fights with the White House had to be avoided at best and chosen very, very carefully at worst.
The President was truly enthused now. “Hey, you know I can even go to the Ebenezer Baptist Church for Martin Luther King Day and talk about Operation Peaceful Hands without offending anyone. Good job, Don. Get me a press package on these military units with the women in them — I’ll talk that angle up, too. Okay, I think we got a plan of action for that problem right now. Anybody got anything else for me?”
There was a whole slate of things to discuss. The First Lady came in during the subsequent discussions. She was quickly brought up to speed on all the previous topics, and then she joined in as if she had been present right from the very beginning. When General Freeman was notified that the draft military operations order was ready for his review, he excused himself and departed the Cabinet Room. To his surprise, he was stopped by the First Lady, who accompanied him downstairs to the lower lobby.
“I wanted to discuss the deployment of those combat units to Turkey, General,” the First Lady said tightly, her face a smile, but her eyes cold as steel. “I—”
“You’re concerned about the women in the units, how they’ll be treated by the Turks, by the international press, ma’am?”
The First Lady gave Freeman a commending smile and a nod, as if he’d just put the right peg in the hole on “Romper Room.” Freeman was one of the few Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to wear a moustache, thin and dark with no hint of gray, which many women, both in and out of government, found attractive and bold. The First Lady came up to Freeman’s shoulders, and her upraised eyes made her look disarmingly innocent, but Freeman knew better. He had to remind himself of the Steel Magnolia’s background, of her training and education and, most of all, of her aspirations to power — but he had always found her attractive, even desirable. That put him at a distinct disadvantage, and he had to keep himself in check.
“I’m also concerned about how Sam Donaldson and Wolf Blitzer treat them as well, General,” the First Lady said innocently, as if she were protecting lambs from the slaughter. She had a few laugh lines in the corners of her green eyes, and she was a “touchy” person, adept at the slight, casual touch of an arm, the warm handshake extended a second or two longer than expected. She used such gestures even now with Freeman to disarm and persuade, calculating every move.